Infinite Arms

Band Of Horses’ original image and soulful songs

The American rockers Band Of Horses is a beautiful example of how a group of people can express themselves in an honest and simple way, share their positive emotions and create a pleasant atmosphere. Their original image – five bearded guys often performing wearing hats – combines properly with their soulful songs, for which no time limits seem to be valid for they may be written both in the middle of the last century and today. The main themes of Band Of Horses’ are love, happy and unhappy, nostalgia as well as little life situations and images seemingly taken from an average person’s memory. At the same time the lyrics are often built around unexpected and quite witty metaphors, and the melodies are always beautiful and harmonious. It is no wonder that after the band’s debut album Everything All The Time was released in 2006 an impressive fan base was quickly formed. This May the musicians release their third album Infinite Arms, and the number of Band Of Horses fans is certainly going to increase after it.

A kind, creative and endlessly sincere album Infinite Arms

Front man Ben Bridwell vocals sound a bit more natural and sincere on Infinite Arms, probably because the producers have decided to preserve his real voice without perfecting it by means of the technologies they used on the previous recordings. On the whole, however, the record is very integral and organic. It opens with a beautiful and lyrical ballad Factory, a memorable tune underlined by a chorus of fiddles and guitars and very gentle singing. A bit heavier track Compliments is remarkable for a splendid drum work whereas the guitarists have worked especially hard on Laredo and Blue Beard. The song On My Way Back Home is filled with a light feeling, a mixture of sadness and excitement, while the title track does not only contain the album’s main idea of the all-embracing love but it is also one of the most soulful tracks here. A more up-tempo song Dilly pleases with a memorable chorus and not too serious lyrics, and Older can be rightfully considered one of the best tracks on the record due to splendid vocals and its being the best love confession. Another rock number NW Apt. will definitely charge you with positive energy for a long time, and the record closer is a wonderful composition Neighbor, a little bit utopist with its message of brotherly love which fits in perfectly with the general slant of this kind, creative and endlessly sincere album.

12 compositions for your soul

Remaining themselves, following their ideas, keeping the faith in their strength – these could well be Band Of Horses’ slogans. Love and kindness philosophy understandable for everyone, masterful playing the instruments and a good vocalist are the main components of Band Of Horses’ creative work. All that is taken in appropriate proportions on Infinite Arms. Yet if the band’s two previous works could boast containing some more powerful stadium rock numbers, the third album is a collection of 12 compositions for your soul. Here are some smart thoughts, arrangements rich in their sound, memorable tunes and of course faultless vocals with the widest range. Nevertheless these musicians do know what real rock is and a couple of moments on Infinite Arms remind us about that. Thus Band Of Horses has somehow softened its sounding which can be considered as part of experiment or as quiet times before a new powerful rock album. In either case, the record is listened at a breath and leaves a multitude of positive impressions.